Morgan Stanley Loses Another Florida Team to This Aggressively-Recruiting Rival

Raymond James continues poaching advisors from rival Morgan Stanley, most recently adding another duo of representatives in Florida, Raymond James says.

Gregory Stevens and Vince Spires have joined Raymond James & Associates, the firm’s traditional employee broker-dealer, in Ocala, Fla. as Spires & Stevens Wealth Management of Raymond James, according to a press release form the company.

The pair, joined by senior registered client service associate Yvonne Emeric, previously oversaw around $240 million at Morgan Stanley, Raymond James says.

Both Stevens and Spires had been Morgan Stanley lifers. Stevens began his financial services industry career 21 years ago at Smith Barney and stayed on when it was acquired by Morgan Stanley in 2009, according to the press release. Spires began his industry career at Morgan Stanley in 2000, according to Raymond James.

“We were drawn to the client-first and advisor-friendly culture at Raymond James,” Stevens says in the press release. “They have the resources to help us take care of our clients’ evolving needs, and offer us the freedom to run our business the way we feel is best.”

This is at least the second Morgan Stanley team in Florida to decamp for Raymond James in recent weeks.

At the end of February, RJA nabbed a pair of brokers in Boca Raton who produced around $1.3 million in annual fees and commissions at the wirehouse.

In addition, RJA recently scooped up a Morgan Stanley complex manager to oversee its new Southern New England complex.